HAVANA.- The 54th Capablanca Memorial Chess Tournament will start today in Havana attended by more than 400 players.

The Elite group, a 10-round robin contest, involves 6 Grand Masters (GMs), including Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk, who amounts 2.677 Elo points and has won this tournament seven times.

The latter will face in the first round Spanish David Anton (2.667), while the two local players in this pool, Yuri Gonzalez (2.567) and Carlos Albornoz (2.566)- from Camagüey-, will clash with Indian Baskaran Adhiban (2.689) and American Samuel Sevian (2.666), respectively.

Ivanchuk won for the last time in 2016, and his first crown dates back from 2005 when he caused furor in the Cuban fans, who have always welcomed him as if he were a local player.

Seeing him now facing men who surpass him in rank as Adhiban, who appears 38th in the world ranking, or the 18-year-old Sevian looks like enough attraction to follow the incidents of a contest which is not won by a domestic player since 2009.